But How Much Longer, Really?

If you haven't dealt with contractors or builders before, here's the deal. They (almost) never finish on time. Because its so common, they also act like a timeline is not a real thing, which for most of us in the non-contractor world is extremely frustrating. 

Something we all have experience with is once they have your money, you lose your leverage. Have fun waiting and kiss your closing date goodbye. 

Well...we are getting a "thirty days out from closing" letter from the builder, and that date has come and gone. Honestly, I expected it. Doesn't mean it's not disappointing. I was really hoping to close by Thanksgiving and that is definitely not happening.

On the positive side...

The cabinets, recessed lighting, and floors are all installed. We got pictures with a half finished shower and bathroom. I don't see the plumbing but I am assuming that it is done since it doesn't really make sense that they would do that after the fact but hey, what do I know?

Small fact about me- I have over 16 years of experience in dealing with clients. If there is one piece of professional advice I could give anyone in keeping your clients happy, its to communicate well. Overcommunicate if possible. If you can't meet a deadline, make sure you communicate this to your client. It is so important that expectations are clear. This will avoid an angry person more times than not! Knowing that contractors are usually not on schedule is one matter. Having a contractor completely blow off an update is a completely different situation. If you tell someone you send out updates every Tuesday, they better get some kind of email with something, ANYTHING, in it. 

It take 20 seconds to write an email. Do us all a favor and don't avoid issues, just communicate. 

Rant over.